Nina01pd2018.Identity Portfolio

The DepartureBy: Nina

NinaNovember 5, 2012

Nina Historical Narrative

Author’s Note

It started on March 21, 1999 and lasted for 73 days. NATO sent the first set of bombs raining down on Belgrade’s military headquarters as a surprise attack. It was at the brink of dawn that the bombs fell. They called it “Operation Allied Force”. In the first bombing, there were about 500+ civilian casualties and irreparable damage has been inflicted on the headquarters, which was in the center of Belgrade. The bombing ended early in the morning and the planes disappeared as quietly as they came. The next days the bombing continued and kept on going. It was after the bombing of Aleksinac and the bombing of train tracks near Grdelica (a city not far from Leskovac), that Serbia sent out orders to every man of Serbia who was serving time in the army to go to war. It was mandatory for every man to serve at least one year in the military, so those who were called to go did not have a choice. The war lasted for about seven months and the soldiers who survived returned to their families. Though many lives have been lost, people were left without homes and cities were horribly damaged, the war ended and Serbia once again became a peaceful country.


A building that has been destroyed by the bombings.


Family Tree

The Story

It was a cool, sunny day when we were notified. I sat

on the bouncy couch in my neighbor’s (Demek’s) house.

“Yes! There are flyers everywhere in the town square

stating those exact words!” Demek declared.

“Man, do I feel sorry for those guys who have to

leave. It’s all because of NATO bombing our military

headquarters in Belgrade at the brink of dawn and the

other bombing of our main train tracks in Grdelica,”

remarked another neighbor. “Oh! About 500 plus civilian

casualties too! They also got Aleksinac a couple days ago

too. HA! Whoever the guys going off to war are, I wish

them good luck. They’ll need it.”


“Wait, Miloś. Isn’t your son supposed to go?” asked

Demek, eyes fixed on me. I blinked, puzzled. A long

awkward silence filled the room until I finally realized

what was going on. I laughed, then smiled with delight.

“Yes, but I see whats going on! You’re joking! Very

clever! You sure got some good lies tied in with some

facts in the story too! For a second I thought you were

serious!” Their faces suddenly went grim. Demek was the

first one to speak. “Miloś, we aren’t joking. This is real.

This is the truth.” I froze, dumfounded. I backed away

from his hand, which was reaching out to comfort me.

“Miloś it’ll be ok.” Bursting through the rough wooden

door of his house, I rushed home.


The memory flew through my mind. I saw myself

breaking the news to my son and watching him as he

staggered, eyes wide with fear. He stumbled clumsily out

of the room, as if he had just spun around in place a

thousands times. “Son, come back. We need to talk about

this.” I called out to him, but he was gone before I

finished speaking.

I snapped myself back to the present. I watched my

son stride towards me, standing tall and confident, but his

terrified eyes betrayed his expression. I knew what it felt

like to be in the army, for I used to work there. I was

tempted to grab his stuff, dart off, and replace him so that

he could be saved from the torture of war. My heart was

aching with pain and my gut twisted as I walked with him


and the rest of the family to the black iron gate in the

front of our property. It was a creepy kind of entryway,

with spear-like ends and odd curls that looked like a

withered tree, but it had a friendly touch to it that made

you feel warm and cozy.

I opened the door of the gate and turned to look Petar

in the eye. “Son, I know you are afraid.”

“I’m not afraid---”

“No. Don’t lie to me. I know you are and

you should be,” I interrupted, “Being

afraid is normal, but you have to

conquer your fears. Never give up on yourself and keep

telling yourself that you will live, and that will give you

courage and bring you back home. To us. Stay strong. We


The damage the bombing has done.

will be waiting.” I tried to stay clam, but wars are

treacherous things. People never know what might happen

next, and that was what got me on edge.

“Ok. Ok... I.. I will,” he muttered. I pulled him into a

strong embrace, feeling the cool, rumpled camouflage

jumpsuit under my warm hands. Suddenly, I remembered.

Scenes of the day he was born, when he was smaller

than a beer bottle and his childhood came at me. I saw

everything. How he was puny when he was born and is

now a man two meters tall, facing what he shouldn’t. I

clutched the smooth bars of the gate, rubbing some black

powder from the paint onto the rough bronze-brown skin

of my hands. I swipe them together, sending inky clouds

floating and the sour smell of pigment lingering in the air.


At the sound of a rough and overused honk, I

wheeled around to look down the small alley of our street,

Sime Pogacarevica. At the end, stood an old wrecked bus,

waiting to take Petar away to war. “Dad, don’t worry,” my

eyes flickered back to Pepi, “Take care of mom and tell

Nela I can not be reached by phone. I will be strong as

long as I don’t hear her voice, for if I do, I will lose my

focus from how much I miss her.” I promised him that I

would. Nela was my daughter, studying in America. I

patted him once more on the back, noting the sudden

change in attitude and the gain in courage. I suddenly

realized that he was a man, not a boy anymore.

Taking my wife Blagica in my arms we said a silent

prayer to see him again. At the last moment, he turned.


“I’ll be back. I will return just like King Petar did from all

of the wars he went to.” Tears of joy filled my eyes. Full

of hope and pride, I watched him go. He stepped into the

bus just before it took off and flashed a confident grin. I

beamed at him in return. As the bus pulled away, Blagica

and I waved, watching the minibus turn into a black dot in

the distance and then

disappear all together.

Interview

Question: How did you feel when you were watching your son leave?


A picture of the bombing that happened in Belgrade, Serbia.

Answer: Overcome with sadness. Trying to convince himself that my son would return soon. Felt at a loss, but knew that it was not his time to die.

Question: Was there anything special that happened to you when your son was leaving?

Answer: When my son left, I remembered his entire life from day one. I pictured the day he was born and how I was so happy to have a son. I remembered how he was smaller than a bottle of beer at birth and was given the nickname “Beer bottle” for fun. And I imagined his school years and childhood. I remembered how he had just finished college as a man 2 meters tall and was now serving mandatory time in the army. I recalled how he got his girlfriend, Jelena and they were planning to get married soon. I thought about everything and how one war got in the way of the perfect plan for my son.

Question: How did the other family members feel?

Answer: My wife was so stressed and could not sleep. My daughter would be worried sick about him and would be angry at her parents for not giving her any way to contact him.


Question: Was there anyone else who had trouble sleeping? Answer: Everyone had trouble sleeping, my wife, her sister and brother-in-law. Even I could not sleep.

Question: What kept you awake?

Answer: Partly it was the loud sound of the bombs falling, but the main reason was that we were worried.

Question: Was your son the only person you knew who left for the war?

Answer: My niece’s boyfriend Boban and my other niece’s husband Goran also went.

Question: What was your reaction when you were notified that your son would leave?

Answer: I was surprised. He was just about to start a new chapter in his life.

Question: What exactly was that “new chapter” of his life?


Answer: He had just finished college and he was about to get a job. Also, he was going to get married.

Question: Can you give me a description of the setting?

Answer:1.! Front gate of my house--black metallic gate,

taller than me and spear-like tips and ends that curl in a perfect way.

2. The house had a peach colored outside wall which had a very rough texture.

3. It had a wooden door with small glass windows that distorted the look of the inside of the house.

4. There were potted plants lining the walls next to the doors giving the entire area a bright and joyful look that lead into an alley with a bumpy asphalt road. The bus that was to take my son to war was waiting at the end of the alley which opened up to a larger and busier street.

Question: How old was everyone?Answer: Me: 55 years oldmy wife: 52 years oldmy son: 29 years oldmy daughter: 30 years old


Question: When was this?

Answer: Started on March 21, 1999 and lasted for 73 days.

Question: What did you smell/feel/hear?

Answer: Smell: The crisp morning air of Serbia and the smell of my son’s jumpsuit as I hugged himSound: The rusty engine of the bus. I heard everyone’s voices as they said goodbye and the honking of cars passing through a busy streetFeeling: The gate as he closed the gate door and his sons rumpled clothing

Biblography1. “Civilian Casualties Inflicted During Operation Allied Force.” Wikipedia. WikimediaFoundation, 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian _casualties_inflicted_during_Operation_Allied_Force.

2. Grandparents (Blagica and Milos Vorkapic)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian%20_casualties_inflicted_during_Operation_Allied_Force




3. Mom (Danijela Vorkapic Cao)

4.Uncle (Petar Vorkapic)

5."Serbia and NATO: The 1999 War." History behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide. Ed. Meghan Appel O'Meara. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 238-51. Print.

ReflectionWhat specific challenges did you face during this project?I had trouble finding facts and informa5on on the topic I was wri5ng about. Every place I searched had li<le


informa5on and did not write about anything worth pu=ng in my narra5ve.

What did you learn about your family member? (personality, character…)I learned that he stays strong during hard 5mes and thinks of family as the most important thing in the world. I learned that he is a caring man and loves those closest to him. He is a very kind and strong man.

What did you learn about yourself (as a learner, as a family member)?I learned that I get interested in the interviews and find myself asking more ques5ons than usual. I love to learn and always try to dig as deep as I can in a story when I have the chance.

How have you grown? (as a writer…)I used to write too much in my narra5ves and keep the story moving at a very slow pace. Now, through advice


A soldier involved in the war.

from peers and teachers, I learned how to shorten my story and let the reader figure out something son his/her own.

Why do you think doing a project like this is important?I think that by wri5ng this, people can use this as a reference when they want to know the history of the Kosovo War and look through the eyes of someone who took place in it. I think that the reader would be much more interested this way and learn more instead of making a non-‐fic5on book.

What part of this process did you enjoy most? Why?I enjoyed the wri5ng process the most. I really enjoy wri5ng and fins myself a bit too engaged in the story that I am wri5ng. I spend a lot of 5me wri5ng and think that it is very interes5ng. I really loved the wri5ng stage of this process.

What part of this process did you least enjoy? Why?I least enjoyed doing the edi5ng process. I like to hear comments from other people but find that many people do not write about anything that I can improve on, which does not get me anywhere.

How do you plan to share this project with your family/ family member?


I plan to read it out to them and thank them for giving me the informa5on of the story. I plan on entertaining them of the emo5ons that character felt and grip them with a sad and longing story.


Nina01pd2018.Identity Portfolio

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